Day 3B – The day that nothing happened

July 23, 2012

The last 24 hours have been remarkable for the lack of anything remarkable so we will make this short.  We’ve had the trifecta of sailing.  Going fast, in the right direction, with a smooth, easy, comfortable motion.  We haven’t adjusted the sails or changed course.  The wind has been constant at 15-20 knots and we have kept the apparent wind at 120 degrees, the fastest point of sail.  We are averaging right close to 8 knots.  There isn’t a cloud in the sky and for the first time we have a low long-period swell from behind that adds an extra “swoosh” to our motion every few seconds as we slide down the face of the roller.  If all offshore sailing was like this, everyone would do it.  In comparison, if all offshore sailing was like crossing the Gulf Stream, no one would do it.  We did see one ship and another squid committed suicide on the deck.

Oh, I thought of one interesting thing.  We didn’t plug into shore power while in Horta and just relied on our solar panel for charging duties.  As a result, in the last 5 days we’ve only run the engine for 2.5 hours.  That is surprising and very encouraging.

Current position – 41 26.93n 23 17.85w
Distance to go – 658 nm
24 hour run –  186 nm

4 comments

  • Bruce T. Shark

    The squid are trying to escape predators from below and since they are not looking which way they are going, when they shoot up out of the water, the land on your deck. No boat? they hit the water and try to escape more. Congrats on your boat and trip!

    • Chris

      Bruce –
      Thanks for the comment and for stopping by! The squid were incredible and fascinating that they would do what they do. The night before we arrived in Porto, we were sailing along the continental shelf, and it was quite the show to see schools of fish and dolphin in the phosphorescence hunting and fleeing – so I’m sure you are correct. Who needs television with these kinds of shows to watch?

  • Kathi Harris

    Hi Chris and Justin- Apparently squid can fly! Here’s an excerpt and a link to the article when you get access…
    From what has been gathered through the small body of evidence, these species of squid capable of ‘flying’ use a kind of jet propulsion to project themselves out of the water, whereupon they extend their fins to guide the trajectory and create lift. Biologists theorize that the behavior helps squid evade predators as it allows them to travel at higher rates of speed than they can beneath the waves. And despite the recent unveiling of photographs that prove it, these impressive squid flights probably occur all the time.
    http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/photographic-evidence-proves-that-squid-can-fly.html

    • Chris

      Kathi –
      Incredible! And awesome! I would have loved to gotten pictures like the ones in the link you sent! This is at the top of the list of things I learned from the trip, I think :).

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